Puravankara scouting for land in north and west India

SummaryIt has set-up a separate entity Provident Housing to cater to the premium affordable housing segment.

Bangalore-based realty major Puravankara Projects is looking to expand footprint in the rest of the country, mainly in the western and northern regions, a senior company official said here today.

Purvankara, which has set up a separate entity Provident Housing to cater to the premium affordable housing segment, is looking at acquiring land mainly in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur and Patna.

Currently, the company is executing three premium affordable projects in Bangalore and Chennai, together providing about 6.5 million sq ft of space under the brand 'Provident'. The basic cost ranges from Rs 17.74-42.15 lakh.

"We have established well in the premium affordable housing in the South over the past four years. Now we want to take this brand to the next level for which we are looking at other parts of the country, primarily in the north and western markets," Puravankara Group chief executive officer Jackbastian Nazareth said.

He said the company is looking at acquiring land in these areas and expects some activity to happen in the next fiscal.

The company will be launching three Provident projects one each in Bangalore, Mangalore and Coimbatore in the next few months, he said.

Nazareth further said most of the projects will be done through joint development. Currently, Provident contributes nearly 50 per cent to the company's balance sheet, he said, adding, "it will continue to do so in the future as well."

Puravankara posted a 34 per cent increase in sales in the first half of FY13 at Rs 521.66 crore as compared to Rs 389.12 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company expects to reduce its total debt, which currently stands at Rs 1,337 crore, he said, adding, "the money that we will raise through sale of apartments of our new projects will be used to reduce our debt. At present the debt equity ratio is 0.74 which we expect to reduce to 0.60-0.65 by the next fiscal."

Puravankara has a significant presence in Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mysore and overseas in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

The BSE-listed company has successfully completed 34 residential and two commercial projects encompassing 7.80 million sq ft.

Currently, it has 25 million sq ft of projects under development with an additional 88 million sq ft in projected development over the next 7-10 years.